The match had only academic significance as far as the tournament standings were concerned, but for both teams it was important to win - Mumbai so that they could return with slightly more pleasant memories of their failed campaign, and Delhi so that they could build good momentum ahead of the semi-finals.

Delhi went in with a nearly full-strenght side, bringing back Warner, Dilshan and Nannes. The only first choice player missing was Ashish Nehra who made way for Avishkar Salvi. Mumbai brought in Mohammed Ashraful for the departed Dwayne Bravo and debutant Rahil Shaikh for Chetanya Nanda.

Sehwag won the toss and opted to field, wanting to give his team a feel of successfully chasing a target, and tasted immediate success. The returning Nannes got Jayasuriya out lbw off the first legal ball of the match, after bowling two wides.

Nannes continued his impressive form by snaring Mumbai's highest run-scorere JP Duminy in his second over, with a good short-of-a-length ball that bounced more than Duminy expected, resulting in an edge to the keeper. The dismissal was all the more impressive, because just a ball earlier Duminy had hit a gorgeous straight drive for four, and was timing the ball well in his brief stay.

Mumbai were then in further trouble with Sangwan inducing an edge from Ashraful that Karthik gleefully accepted. Mumbai's squad selection could be faulted in picking Ashraful, while they had Ryan McLaren in their ranks. McLaren, being an all-rounder, would have provided Tendulkar with more options, but as it was, he didn't get a single game during the tournament.

Mumbai would have been in further trouble had Rajat Bhatia held on to a chance offered by Rahane. The ball had gone to his left, and Bhatia went for it with only one hand. Another chance was put down by Delhi - this one a lot less straightforward than Bhatia's drop - when Tendulkar hit the ball in the air, but an airborne AB de Villiers couldn't latch on.

Both the batsmen made Delhi pay for the lapses, putting on a good partnership, with Tendulkar unfurling vintage strokes. A straight drive down the ground, and a deliberate edge to third man would have brought misty reminiscences to those who have seen Tendulkar in the nineties when India was labelled a 'one-man army' with almost the entire burden of scoring resting on Sachin's stocky shoulders.

The partnership was finally broken by Rajat Bhatia, who castled Tendulkar. Tendulkar had made 46 off 41 balls, and the partnership of 73 runs in 9 overs, had enabled Mumbai to recover from a bad start.

However, almost immediately, Mumbai were once again on the backfoot, with Abhishek Nayar lasting only 4 balls, to leave Mumbai 5 down for a 106. Rahane was looking good, but Mumbai needed someone to stay at the crease with him.

He found an ally in Pinal Shah, and together they put together a frenetic 43 run partnership in just 4.1 overs, during the course of which Rahane reached a well-deserved half century. He was finally out for 56 off 41 balls in the final over, but by then Mumbai had breached the 150 run mark, thanks largely to his efforts. They ended up at 165 for 8, aided by their tail-ender's frantic running, and some good blows struck by Harbhajan, giving themselves a good chance of ending the tournament with a morale-boosting victory.

Delhi opened with Gautam Gambhir and David Warner, and Gambhir came out with all guns blazing in an attempt to shake off his patchy form. Warner, however, fell early and that brought Sehwag to the crease. Sehwag followed Gambhir's lead and went for his shots, and Delhi were sitting pretty at 60 for 1 after the 6 powerplay overs.

The pair continued to pile on the runs, and in an ominous sign for Delhi's semi-final opponents, looked like they were getting back into prime form. At the strategy break, Delhi were 93 for 1, with both batsmen finding the boundary with ease.

The partnership was finally broken when Gambhir skied a cut, for Ashraful to take a good catch diving forwards at third man and avoiding a collision with wicket-keeper Pinal Shah who was also running towards the ball. Gambhir had made 47 off 38 balls, and the partnership was worth 68 runs in 7.4 overs. The respite that Mumbai got due to the wicket was only temporary as Dilshan walked out to join Sehwag, and promptly hooked Malinga for a beautifully timed six off the second ball he faced. Dilshan was particularly severe on his Sri Lankan team-mate. Malinga had been the bowler of the tournament so far, but his figures in this match read 4-0-38-1. Dilshan had taken 22 runs off the 10 balls he faced from Malinga.

At the other end, Sehwag continued the carnage, hitting fours and sixes as if he had never been out of form. He reached his 50 off 26 balls, ironically beng dropped by Harbhajan on the shot that got him to his fifty.

However, Harbhajan came back beautifully to first get Dilshan caught top-edging a sweep, and castling Virender Sehwag the next ball with a quicker one. The over was productive for Mumbai as they got 2 wickets for just 3 runs, but even after that over, the equation for Delhi read 20 runs required off 5 overs.

Harbhajan then came back for his final over to script another twist in the tale by taking two wickets in two balls again. This time the batsmen were AB de Villiers who chipped the ball straight to deep mid-wicket and Rajat Bhatia who was bowled through the gate. Harbhajan finished his spell of 4-0-17-4 to give Mumbai a sniff of victory.

However, with Dinesh Karthik still there and 12 runs required off the final 3 overs, Delhi were still favourites. However, it wasn't Karthik, but the diminutive Amit Mishra who settled the issue in style for Delhi, hitting Duminy's first 3 balls for the required 12 runs with the help of a six and a four, and hand Delhi the victory by 4 wickets and 2.3 overs to spare. Although the match became a lot closer than Delhi would have anticipated when Sehwag was at the crease, they never really lost control of the chase after Sehwag and Gambhir got together.

Whoever faces them in the semi-finals tomorrow had better watch out: AB, Dilshan and Karthik have been in superb touch throughout the tournament, and now the destructive firm of Gambhir and Sehwag has also found its bearings. This has ensured that Delhi go into the semi-finals as the top dogs.

Turning Point of the Match: The sixth over of the Delhi innings bowled by Dhawal Kulkarni. Poor Kulkarni didn't know what hit him as Sehwag picked him off for 3 fours in the over. That was the start that he needed to get back to his best touch, and he never let up after that, continuing to score at almost 2 runs per ball till he got out.

Man of the Match: Virender Sehwag for his innings of 50 off 27 balls, which ensured that even after a major wobble from Harbhajan, Delhi were comfortably placed enough to get the victory without any major worries.

Soundbytes:

"On the whole I wouldn't blame our bowlers. We bowled well throughout the tournament, but one off-day here and there happens" - Sachin Tendulkar

"I gave everybody a chance to play in this IPL, and everyone has grabbed their opportunity" - Virender Sehwag. He was perhaps forgetting that a long bean-pole considered to be amongst the greatest fast bowlers of all time has not got a single game yet!